Overlapping disc-type hulling machine



Nov. 11, 1947. w. R. K ENNEDY 2,430,572

OVERLAPPING DISC-TYPE HULLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 11, 1947. w. R. KENNEDY 2,430,572

OVERLAPPING DISC-TYPE HULLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 11, 1947 QXEEQLMHEQ DISC=IBE HULLING- MA H NE William R). Kennedy, Fort William, Ontario,

Canada.

Su stitut d, for ap i n S rial No, 68, 20,

April 17', 1939.

1944, serial N 552256 l G aim- 1 My.- invention relates to an improved device for hulling various grains, nuts and the like, and a principal object of my invention has been to provide a device. of the character herewithindescribed which, particularly in the case of wild rice, will completely remove the hulls from the kernels of grain without breaking or damaging the kernels in any way.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device or the characterherewithin described whichmaybe readily adjusted to handle differ-- ent types ofgrain and different conditions orwild rice.

With. the above moreirnportant objects in view and: such other minor objects as may appear as the specification proceeds, my invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all" as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure. l is a side elevational- View or m-yin-ve-n tion.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan View of the same taken along theline 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3; isa partial: front elevational View of my invention.

Fig-uret is a detailed perspective viewillustrating the structure of my grain feeding assembly;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detaiq illustrating-mydisc space-adjusting means.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the difiere-nt f gures.

With reference to the accompanying drawings it will be seen that the essence of my invention lies in the provision of a pair of hulling discs I and 2, which. are provided with frictional facing material 3 and 5 preferably of crepe rubber se cured upon adjacent sides thereof and secured by the nuts 5 and 6 upon the shafts l and 8-; which are rotatably mounted upon a supporting framework 9 in the manner illustrated.

A transmission mechanism I30 is provided extending between" the shafits l and such. that the disc 2*, the perimeter of i bevelled, rotates l ha as s a the disc. I e he sha a is dr v n y a m to In eer t pnthe rain is fed betw en the fr c iona aci gma e al 3 nd b t e ra n ed ng a sembly and he di This a.

rn ical iant rtembe r 1 HEN-23.6)

ference in rotative speeds of the two discs I and 2 causes the-hulls or=hushs to be, as it were, twisted off of the kernels as the grain passes between the overlapping: portions of the discs, after which, hulisand kernels are received in the contai-neri=3 and may be separated in a fanning mill in the conventional manner.

Proceeding now to describe the various componentsof invention more particularly, it will be seen that the framework 9 is comprised of a rectangular bed plate is, upon the surface of which twopairs or upright and aligned standards i=5, it are positioned. in rectangular relationship and are provided with horizontally disposed bracket portions it formed integrally upon their lower ends, which are secured by the bolts H to the surface or the plate l' l. Also, to add to the rigidity of each of the standards IE, it, a diagonally disposed brace I'B, positioned in a vertical: plane perpendicular to the bracket portions i6; is secured at its upperend tothe mid-portion of the standard by the bolt i9 and at its lower endtothe surface of the bed plate H! by the bolt 2! The parallel and horizontally disposed shafts l and 8 are each rotatably mounted in one of two pairs of aligned and: spaced bearings 2i and 2|"; s2 and 22', which are secured integrally upon the upper ends of the pairsof standards l5 and 5-' respectively; Structural provision is made for limited longitudinal adjustment of the shaft 1- for'varying the spacing of the disc I with respect to the disc 2 whilethe machine is running (see Figure 5) consisting in the externally screwth-readed boss 2? to which is attached a hand- Wheel, the boss therefore being rotatable and containing within the surface 24 thereof a roller bearing-race just wide enough to seat the tapered 4 rollerbearings 25 which ride on the tapered race 25' keyed for rotation with the shaft 1. If therefore it is desired to increase the space between the discs this may be accomplished: simply by rotating the han-dwheelso that the boss 23 moves to the left taking with it the rollers 25 The shaft will then end-shift or its own accord.

At this point it. be noted that the shaft 8. is. somewhat longer than the shaft 1 and the right; hand; end: thereof with respect to Figures r and .2: at the a c mn r sdraw n s pro ects sea ewhat, bey nd the adherent be Wins .5:. to. hav t ati lr l ge P l er Whe 2- sec red.

thereon, which is aligned with a relatively small pulley wheel 26, over both of which an endless transmission belt 21 extends. The pulley wheel 26 is of course, secured upon the drive shaft 23 of the motor H, the base 29 of which is solidly secured by the bolts 30 to the bed plate I4, The transmission mechanism I0 which is positioned centrally between the supporting bearings 21 and 22, upon each of the shafts I and 8, consists essentially of a relatively small gear wheel 3! which is mounted upon the shaft 1 and is in engagement with a relatively large gear wheel 32 mounted upon the shaft 8. Each of the gear wheels 3! and 32 has a concentric collar 33 formed integrally with the hub thereof in the wall of which a set screw 34 is threadably secured to enable each gear to be secured solidly to the shaft upon which it is mounted. 7

With more particular reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings in which a breakaway view of the hulling disc I i illustrated, this member will be seen to be comprised of a circular plate 35 having a circular boss 36 formed centrally upon one side thereof and a centrallydrilled aperture 31 extending therethrough, in thewall of which a key seat 38 is-cut. The facing material 3 then is secured in any conventional manner, such as by a suitable adhesive, upon the same side of the plate 35 as the boss 36 and. isprovided with anaperture 33 formed centrally therein to accommodate the boss 36 and permit the outer surface of the element to lie flush with the end of the boss. The end portion 40 of the shaft:8 is threaded and provided with a longitudinally extending key way 4! cut therein, in

which a key 42 is slidably positioned and designed to, be engageable with the key seat 38 formed in the disc I, which is slidably mounted upon the threaded portion 44 0f the shaft and is adjustably secured thereon by the nuts 5.

The hulling disc 2 is constructed and mounted upon the shaft 8 in the same manner as the disc I withthe exception thatin this case the disc 2 -is mounted upon the shaft 8 such that the frictional facing element 4 is adjacent the element 3 and the perimeters of the disc 2 and element 4 are inwardly bevelled towards the adjacent end of the'shaft 1. As is clearly seen, both discs I and 2 are offset slightly with respect to one another and overlap over the portions of their areas which is designated'by the numeral 43.

My grain feeding assembly i2 is comprised of an open topped and rectangular sided hopper 44 which is secured at the corners thereof to the upper ends of four upright angle irons 45, the

lower ends of which are secured to the bed plate IL: The bottom 44' of the hopper 44 is of the configuration of an inverted pyramid and is secured about its upper peripheral edge 46 to the lower edges of the sides of the hopper 44. The inverted apex of the bottom of the hopper 44 is truncated to form an aperture 4'! in which is secured the upper end of a rectangular conduit 48, the lower portion 49 of which has one side 50 thereof lying flush with the face of the frictional element 3 and is angled abruptly into axial alignment with the radius of the disc '2 at a point adjacent the upper end of the overlapping area 43 of the facing elements 3 and 4. The lower end face 51 of the portion 49 of the conduit 48 is spaced apart and parallel to the bevelled edge 52 of the disc 2 and has formed therein a rectangular aperture 53, which extends into intersection with an aperture 54 formed in the side' 5ll of the conduit which lies flush with the face of the element 3. Finally, a pair of parallel spaced channels 55 are formed upon the side edges of the aperture 53 and a slidable panel 56 is secured therein.

With the motor H in operation and driving the discs I and 2 in the direction indicated by the arrows, the operation of my invention will now be seen to lie in drawing back the panel 56 to permit a suitable flow of grain from the hopper 44 to be drawn between the overlapping portions of the frictional elements 3 and 4, where as has been previously pointed out, the reduced speed of rotation of the element 4 in comparison to that of the element 3, imparts an unusual twisting movement to the hulls and effects their removal without damage to the kernels of the grain. In the hulling of wild rice, for which my invention has been more particularly designed, I have found that crepe rubber is a most satisfactory material for the facing elements and that a transmission system It! to give a speed ratio of 2:1 for the discs I and 2 respectively is very satisfactory. Obviously, however, the adjustment of the speed of rotation of the discs, clearance between the facing elements 3 and 4, etc., may be varied and employed to suit different grains and circumstances without the exercise of further invention.

In the accompanying Figure 3 I have illustrated diagrammatically the manner in which the respective lines of motion 51 intersect transversely or obliquely as they traverse the overlapping hulling or husking area 43. It is the effective interaction of the hulling surfaces within the limits of the overlapping area thereof which imparts through the grain the necessary torsion by means of which the hulls or husks are removed without damage to the kernels.

Since many modifications can be made in the invention herein described and since the accompanying drawings have been prepared only to illustrate the relative arrangement and interaction of parts and not with regard to accuracy of dimensions for manufacturing purposes which in view of this disclosure I consider to entail merely mechanical skill together with the skill of the mechanical draftsman, and since many apparently widely different embodiments of this ininvention may be made within the scope of the accompanying claim without departing from the spirit and scope of the same it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense and I desire only such limitations placed thereon as justice dictates.

This application is a substitute for application 268,420, filed April 17, 1939.

What I claim as my invention is:

A machine for hulling small grain and particu larly wild rice, comprising in combnation a framework, a pair of horizontal and parallel shafts journalled thereupon, a vertically positioned disc secured for rotation upon each of said shafts, one of said discs being in advance of the other and overlapping the same, the overlapping portion of the surface of the advanced disc and the portion of the surface of the other disc overlapped thereby being hulling surfaces, both of said surfaces lying in a plane at right angles to the axes of rotation of said disc, the perimeter of one of'said discs bein bevelled inwardly towards the plane of the other disc, a hopper, a. wedge-shaped discharge spout extending between said discs and having surfaces complementary to said bevelled perimeter of the one disc and the hulling surface of the other disc, one of said discs travelling clockwise and the other anticlockwise, one of said discs also travelling at a greater rate of speed.

WILLIAM R. KENNEDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Clark Dec. 25, 1900 Number Number Number 

